Grammys 2013 Predictions: Rock/Alternative Fields

Stop The Presses!

Paul GreinNovember 30, 2012

FILE - In this March 12, 2012 file photo, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys performs at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Attorneys for Pizza Hut and The Home Depot denied claims that two ads improperly copied their music. The Black Keys sued the companies in June, claiming the companies infringed their copyrights by using two of their hit songs to try to sell pizza and power tools. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

The Black Keys, which won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album with its 2010 album,
Brothers, is competing in the Best Rock Album category this time around.
Jack White, who, with
the White Stripes, won Best Alternative Music Album three times, is also competing for Best Rock Album
. If the Black Keys or White wins the award, they’ll become be the fourth act to take top album honors in both fields.
U2,
Green Day and
Coldplay also achieved the feat. (Acts are often seen as alternative when they are building and then as part of the rock establishment once they reach the top.)

Two past winners for Best Rock Album, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen, are likely to be back in the running with their current albums, Mylo Xyloto and Wrecking Ball, respectively. Two other past winners in the category, Green Day and Muse, are also fairly strong candidates, though they may fall short this time around.

FILE - In this April 15, 2012 file photo, Australian artist Gotye performs during the first weekend of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Gotye’s smash hit “Somebody I Used to Know” is Spotify’s top song of the year. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

Gotye’s Making Mirrors is the front-runner for Best Alternative Music Album. Fiona Apple and Bjork are also likely to make the finals. Apple and Bjork are both vying to become the first female solo artist to win in the category since Sinead O’Connor took the award with her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. The competition may also include Tom Waits, who won the award with his 1992 album Bone Machine.

Mumford & Sons’Babel is the front-runner to win for Best Americana Album. It’s expected to face Bonnie Raitt’s Slipstream, Bob Dylan’s Tempest, The Lumineers’ The Lumineers and The Avett Brothers’ The Carpenter. Notably, Americana by Neil Young & Crazy Horse isn’t competing for a nomination as Best Americana Album. It’s vying for a nomination as Best Rock Album. (Note: Best Americana Album is the American Roots field, but it’s such a red-hot category I decided to squeeze it in here.)

Babel is also likely to receive a nomination for Album of the Year. The Black Keys, Coldplay, Young & Crazy Horse and Gotye albums are also serious contenders for that award.

The Grammy nominations will be announced on a live TV special on Dec. 5. The awards will be presented on Feb. 10.